Innovative Method of Alopecia Treatment by Autologous Adipose-Derived SVF
Innovative Method of Alopecia Treatment by Autologous Adipose-Derived SVF
Innovative Method of Alopecia Treatment by Autologous Adipose-Derived SVF
Abstract
Background: Alopecia refers to a condition developed by gradual reduction of hair loss by various abnormal causes
such as endocrine system, genetic factors, and stress. Stromal vascular fraction (SVF) isolated from the fat is one of
the latest innovative solutions in the field of regeneration therapy. We focused on presenting effectiveness of clinical
cases to improve AGA through transplantation of autologous SVF into the scalp.
Objective: To confirm the efficacy of the autologous SVF usage to the patients with AGA.
Methods: Nine patients (age range 43–64 years; 4 men, grade IV to V and 5 women, grade I to III), who are suffer‑
ing from androgenic alopecia (AGA), were treated with single transplantation of autologous SVF in the upper scalp.
Autologous SVF was isolated and characterized prior to the injection of live 7–9 × 106 cells into the patients’ treatment
site. The hair loss improvement effect was assessed by three test criteria: hair skin quality, hair thickness and hair den‑
sity 3 and 6 months after post-injection compared to pre-injection status.
Results: Hair density of SVF-treated side was significantly increased after 3 and 6 months of transplantation com‑
pared to non-treated side (P = 0.01 and P = 0.009 per each). And significant improvement in the score of the keratin
on the scalp was seen in the injected area as compared to the non-injected area 6 months after transplantation
(P = 0.032). Although thickness increase was observed at 3 and 6 months after transplantation, there was no statistical
significance (P = 0.142 and 0.155, respectively).
Conclusions: One transplantation of autologous SVF for the AGA patients, hair density and score for the keratin were
significantly increased within 6 months. This study shows that SVF is a very effective way to treat hair loss and most of
subjects are satisfied with the result after treatment.
Keywords: Stromal vascular fraction (SVF), Alopecia, Hair loss, Baldness
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Kim et al. Stem Cell Res Ther (2021) 12:486 Page 2 of 9
removed [6–8]. In case of non-surgical treatments, there hair cycle of scalp is also known to be affected by vari-
is no proven method objectively and in order to treat ous environment factors, and the vascularity on the
AGA, it is known to take a 5-red reductase inhibitor scalp may also be an important factor in the health of the
that suppresses production of DHT hormone and if tak- hair root [6–8]. So, it is estimated that improvement of
ing the medicine is stopped, it is estimated that alopecia the condition on the scalp SVF with plenty of stem and
occurred again by reproduction of DHT hormone. AGA vascular cells contributes to restoring hair cycle. In this
is known as a disease in which one’s immune cells gen- study, it is aimed to verify the improvement of alopecia
erate immune inflammatory response to hair roots and by using SVF separated from autologous adipose-derived
become to lose hair in the end. Although various treat- tissues [16–19]. This report is a prospective preliminary
ments have been known to date, it is not known there is study which introduces SVF in the treatment of AGA and
any effective method to inhibit the progression of AGA regarded to be highly utilized in clinical cases which can
by stimulating the scalp itself or to regulate the cycle of suggest a new standard to AGA treatment.
hair which can restore AGA [9, 10].
According to some reports on the efficiency of AGA
improvement using biological formulations such as cul- Materials and methods
ture fluid of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) or adult stem Subjects
cells, the results of the treatment are known to be insig- The medical records of patients were reviewed to collect
nificant. According to a recently published academic patients who treated with autologous SVF for AGA at the
paper, the result of clinical treatment using SVF by lipo- plastic surgery clinic (TOP Plastic Surgery, Seoul, Korea).
suction in patients’ abdomen and thigh has been statis- The medical status and hair loss history were analyzed
tically effective. Treatments applied in the area of AGA through the questionnaire, and a physical experiment was
using adipose-derived stem cells or its culture fluid have conducted to diagnose AGA grade. Healthy adult men
been continuously reported [11]. and women patients between 43 and 64 were enrolled in
Among various clinical studies on mesenchymal stem this study, and androgenic baldness rated recorded using
cells (MSCs), the treatments using SVF from the adi- the Norwood–Hamilton grades and Ludwig scale. Over
pose tissues are reported to be effective on degenerative a period of 6 months, nine patients (4 male and 5 female)
arthritis, treating wound and damaged tissue regen- were followed the results. Table 1 describes the enroll cri-
eration. SVF has been identified through several studies teria for subjects. All subjects had a normal body mass
for the effectiveness of neovascularization stimulation index (BMI) range, generally healthy, and had no history
and inflammatory change reduction, and the stability of underlying disease. Written consent for the portrait
has been reported with several clinical cases [12–14]. rights and publication was taken from all patients, and
SVF includes not only stem cells but also vascular and IRB approved the concerned clinical trial process. Table 2
immune cells, and is known to restore damaged body summarizes patients’ information, including the age, gen-
parts, activating surrounding tissues by secreting vari- der, volume of adipose tissues, isolated SVF and injected
ous cytokines depending on the environment [15]. The SVF cell counts.
Each side for observation symmetrically divided in half we treated 1 mg of finasteride, 0.5 mg of dutasteride for
based on 4 cm from the hairline. Hair density (per cm2), men and 3% minoxidil foam for women.
hair thickness, scalp status, keratin of scalp, scalp sen- Table 3 shows the results of the basic phenotype for the
sitivity, scalp sebum, hair pore status, and cuticle status isolated SVF. The transplanted cells which were not puri-
were analyzed automatically by average value measured fied showed a clearly heterogeneous population express-
over at 3 random sites using ASW200. ing not only ADSC markers but also the hematopoietic,
To avoid disturbance by medications administered to immune-related cells and endothelial along with spe-
the patient, all values in these statistics used the differ- cific high levels of CD34 [19]. Compared with the con-
ence of a median value between treated and the non- ventional standard manual purification with HuriCell,
treated sides. Statistical significance was used by the typical SVF characteristics, the viability, and the doubling
Wilcoxon signed-rank test, a nonparametric statistical time were not different significantly (data not shown).
method corresponding to the student’s t test. It was sta- The greatest advantage of isolating SVF by machine is
tistically considered significant if the P values are less the reproducibility of the procedure, thereby reducing
than 0.05. patient-to-patient variability in the isolated cell popula-
tion, which is an important parameter to control when
Results treating with stem cells in the clinic (Tables 4, 5).
Nine patients recruited from November 2020 to May Patients in each group underwent transplantation for
2021 were divided into two parties according to gender: the same quantity of total live SVF (except 1 patient)
male (n = 4) and female (n = 5). We randomly selected according to individual hair loss type. The mean age of
the patient’s treatment side. We managed the isolation patients was 53 ± 1.22 in male group and 51.5 ± 3.43 in
and transplantation of SVF not exceeding 120 min. In female group. A total of 3 patients (30%) had an AGA
accordance with AGA medical prescription guidelines, family history, and the other 6 patients (70%) were
experiencing serious hair loss in the recent past year.
One female (20%) showed Ludwig scale type III, and
three females (60%) did Ludwig scale II. In case of male
Table 3 Phenotyping of cell surface markers on SVF
patients, most of them showed Hamilton–Norwood scale
Marker Percentage of gated Characterization type IV or V. Any side effects were not observed in all
(Means ± SD, n = 3)
subjects.
CD31 33.88 ± 11.45 Endothelial Both groups, the scalp images were taken and the
CD34 55.65 ± 11.85 Hematopoietic number of hair/cm2 was counted randomly in the trans-
CD45 2.33 ± 2.06 Immunological planted area on each visit. In one patient, based on AGA
CD73 12.53 ± 13.39 Mesenchymal condition, we randomly treated a half with SVF, while the
CD90 58.52 ± 11.19 Mesenchymal other part was not done. Mean and median density of
CD105 10.03 ± 8.44 Mesenchymal hair on the pre-injection visit in the non-treated site were
All subjects (n = 3) performed in duplicate experiment, and the number is
44.44 ± 5.09 vs. 43.33 ± 3.11 in the treated site (Fig. 1).
mean ± SEM. The characteristics of isolated cell using HuriCell device show On 6 months after treatment, the number of hair density
similar patterns as published data
Table 4 The change of hair density before and at 1, 3 and 6 months after SVF transplantation
Patient’s no. Age Sex Hair density before Hair density 1 month Hair density 3 months Hair density 6 months
treatment (hair/cm2) (hair/cm2) (hair/cm2) (hair/cm2)
Non-treated Treat Non-treated Treat Non-treated Treat Non-treated Treat
1 51 M 40 50 40 50 55 75 65 90
2 51 30 40 45 50 50 65 65 80
3 54 25 30 40 55 45 75 55 90
4 56 50 45 60 50 60 55 70 85
5 43 F 40 45 40 45 45 70 60 100
6 44 60 55 70 65 75 85 85 95
7 48 55 55 55 60 60 75 70 95
8 59 30 30 35 45 45 65 75 80
9 64 70 40 70 45 55 85 75 95
Average value of hairs was measured automatically over at 3 random sites using Aroma Smart Wizard system (ASW200)
Kim et al. Stem Cell Res Ther (2021) 12:486 Page 5 of 9
Table 5 The change of hair diameter before and at 1, 3 and 6 months after SVF transplantation
Patient’s no. Age Sex Hair thickness before Hair thickness 1 month Hair thickness 3 months Hair thickness
treatment (mm) (mm) (mm) 6 months (mm)
Non-treated Treat Non-treated Treat Non-treated Treat Non-treated Treat
Fig. 1 Analysis of hair density change before and after the Fig. 2 Changes of hair thickness before and after the treatment of
treatment of SVF. The difference of median value between treated SVF. The difference of median value between treated and non-treated
and non-treated side is significantly difference at 3 and 6 months side was increased at 3 and 6 months. However, there was no
(*Wilcoxon signed-rank test, P < 0.05, n = 9) statistical significance (Wilcoxon signed-rank test, n = 9)
was in the non-treated site 68.88 ± 2.97 versus 90 ± 2.35 hair thickness, scalp status, sensitivity, sebum, hair pore
in the treated site. Overall, the density was increased in status, cuticle status, or any other parameters was not
the treated site by 48.11% as compared to the non-treated shown in the treated area at whole 6-month follow-up
site density of 35.48%. Hair density of the treated side was except hair density and keratin of scalp (Fig. 3). Although
highly improved after 3- (P = 0.01, n = 9) and 6-month the patients do not achieve any improved scores in their
pre-injection (P = 0.009, n = 9) (Fig. 1). hair status, significant improvement in the score for the
Hair thickness improvement was observed after 3 and 6 keratin of the hair epidermis was seen in the treated side
months post-injection, but there was no statistical signifi- as compared to the non-treated side (P = 0.032). After
cance (Fig. 2). The mean and median thickness of hair on 6 months, most of the patients showed improvement in
the pre-injection visit were 0.032 ± 0.053 mm in the des- the hair status and patient satisfaction scores (data not
ignated non-treated site compared to 0.029 ± 0.003 mm shown). Also, the pull test was done in both sides of the
in the designated treated site. On the 6 months post- patients after 6 months, and there is no significance com-
injection visit, hair thickness was 0.053 ± 0.003 mm in pared to non-treated group (data not shown). Represent-
the non-treated site compared to 0.058 ± 0.003 mm in ative photographs and macrophotographs of a patient
the treated site. Any overall significant change in the after 6 months are shown in Fig. 4.
Kim et al. Stem Cell Res Ther (2021) 12:486 Page 6 of 9
1 6
2 7
3 8
4 9
Fig. 4 Representative photographs of the AGA improvement after SVF treatment. Baseline (pre-injection) versus 6 months (post-injection) global
photographs after treatment
autologous SVF transplantation, and it has been reported In the application of clinical study using SVF, the type,
that hair growth is improved, which is known as parac- structure, and surroundings of damaged tissue/organ
rine effect by the migration of transplanted SVF and the have an important influence on the transplanted SVF
secretion of various growth factors [29]. As it is known, [31, 32]. Efficacy on SVF-based therapy in AGA depends
SVF secrets various cytokines related to immunosup- on several variables such as optimal cell number, pheno-
pressive action or anti-inflammation by interaction of type, maturity formulation and transplantation method.
various cells [30]. Like other stem cells, the fate of transplanted SVF is
Kim et al. Stem Cell Res Ther (2021) 12:486 Page 8 of 9
Conclusions
This study using autologous SVF can be regarded as a cell
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